CMC 1870: the step and spring model

It is not my intention to make a website about boneshakers. Even not transitional boneshakers, which are, as a matter of fact, a transitional stage between the wooden wheeled boneshaker and the ordinary with its tall front wheel.

I make an exception for Coventry Machinists Co, since they are really the fathers of British bicycle industry.

This model was introduced in march 1870 and we call it nowadays the 'step and spring model'.

The step was introduced by James Starley, at that time still working at CMC. It helped people to mount their bicycle, even if the wheel became taller.

The spring was a modern feature that gave way to a transverse backbone: the spring didn't have to run all the way backwards to the rear fork.

Unique of this CMC is the exceptional way of attaching the rear wheel: single sided!

Quite a few of these bicycles have survived. The one in the pictures is in the Velorama museum in Nijmegen.